Much conventional thinking about the environment tends to separate "parts" of the same whole. In dealing with water problems, for example, we tend to focus on symptoms -- such as flooding, erosion, and riparian conditions -- rather than causes, which are almost always related to the function of the water cycle.
| Allan Savory  With mostly bare soil in its catchment, this river now only runs during flash floods following heavy rainfall. Droughts and floods are the norm. Allan Savory  Same day, same soils, same rainfall: This nearby river's catchment has more covered soil. The river has water year-round. Flooding is less severe and drought rare. Article |
One of the basic processes of the ecosystem, the water cycle is often thought of only in climatic or large-scale terms.
Water constantly cycles around between bodies of water, the sky, and the earth. The cycle is powered by the sun. The most important factor in the way the water cycle works is the soil, particularly the soil surface -- where the earth meets the air.
Particularly in seasonally arid or brittle environments -- which cover two-thirds of the earth's land area -- soil cover is essential to the biodiversity (including biomass) and complexity that is needed for the soil to gain and store water, which is a basic necessity for all life.
Soil cover, root mass, organic matter, and aeration -- these are synonyms for an effective water cycle, where water is absorbed and retained as much as possible in the ground, and the surplus goes through plants (transpiration) and down into the water table.
read more!source: http://managingwholes.com/eco-water-cycle.htm
